Making a Case for Design Skills

By
Gretchen Peterson

As
GIS professionals, we are not alone in our need for a more
design-centered approach to our field. Design skills in adults are
woefully lacking, and it appears that this will remain true until arts
education gains a more prominent position in schools, from primary
through college. Did you know that, while the majority of primary and
secondary schools in the U.S. do teach visual arts, most offer classes
in the subject only one to two times per week at an average of 43
minutes per class (National Center For Education Statistics Statistical
Analysis Report, June 2002, pdf)?
So it's no surprise that all professions, except those singly focused
on art, are currently stunted due to lack of ability to communicate
visually both within and outside of those professions.

I came across an obvious example of this lack of visual communication
expertise recently in the form of posters hanging in a university
hallway. Ostensibly they were there to let others know what the
researchers were up to in that particular science department. I presume
they were originally made to display at professional conferences.
However, if anyone within or outside of the department learns or has
learned anything of substance from them I'd be surprised. All the
posters had long titles with acronyms, enormous amounts of copy, and
little else. In one instance the authors' names were in the same font
size as the title!

Now, how in the world are these people getting their message across?
Certainly not with these posters! The GIS profession is also afflicted
with a lack of artistic design skills. We are a group made up mostly of
analysts, programmers, planners, scientists and developers and have
had, therefore, little or no formal training in the arena.

When we GIS professionals spend as little time and effort on the design
of our map products as the scientists in that department spent on their
posters, we come dangerously close to being ineffective. One major
hurdle that GIS professionals often cite when discussing design is that
they lack the time that it takes to make something look good. But, what
about all the time wasted on products such as those department posters
that aren't communicating anything and are therefore useless? It is
much better to spend the time upfront to create a compelling map than
it is to re-do the map at a later date.

The
author submitted this map to the CartoTalk Map Gallery for critique.
After receiving feedback, the author created the final map, below.
(Click for larger view.)

(Click for larger view.)

Good design means successful communication, period. Sometimes that
means the map is made in such a way that it can be understood in a
split-second, like a location map in a newspaper article. Sometimes it
means the map is made for a lengthy perusal, such as a map of regional
historic sites. However, even those maps need to have a design that
invites immediate understanding at least at a cursory level. As Holly
Glaser, principal of Mappa Mundi GIS, LLC explains, "Maps that do not
deliver a clear message in less than 10 seconds will not be looked at
by anyone. A simple map that conveys information without causing
eyestrain or confusion is the best. Getting to this point requires
ruthlessly pruning your darlings, such as fancy color schemes and extra
legend items. It also requires making sure that the important
information is easily seen."

This idea that it takes time and effort - again, because by and large
we don't have the art background to make it easy - for us to make our
maps is not to be taken lightly. Perhaps we are afraid of what will
happen if we open ourselves up to the world of art and design in order
to further our career skills. We all know what happens when someone
gets the cartography bug. They collect maps, they spend hours on sites
like the David Rumsey Map Collection and Strange Maps, they start taking design classes, they spend an eternity on each map they produce, they critique color palettes on COLOURlovers and they hang up complex font and color charts next to their desk. You may have even participated in my webinar, "Creativity and GIS".
Yes, it's true that these things take you away from your primary
responsibilities if you are not a cartographer. But we are all going to
have to admit that these are necessary (and even fun) activities that
we need to undertake in order to continuously sharpen our map making
skills.

In my book, GIS Cartography: A Guide to Effective Map Design,
I argue that because our profession is growing to include many people
from design-heavy fields such as graphic design and landscape
architecture, the rest of us are going to have to increase our
cartographic skills simply to keep up. I can't emphasize that enough.
We really are going to have to work on this simply so that we aren't
left behind. However, there are many other reasons that we should be
paying attention to our skills in this arena. Many times these reasons
are specific to the kind of GIS we are currently practicing and that's
what the rest of this article focuses on. Let's go through some
fictional employee examples to learn more about them.

Local Government
Sally is a local government employee. She tends to work hard, is
underpaid and overworked. On the flipside she does get a lot of
vacation time. Should she spend that extra vacation time going to
museums, gaining inspiration from beautiful landscapes, and otherwise
expanding her creative repertoire? You bet. This is why: Sally is
committed to public service. Part of this commitment is to produce map
products that help her customer base - the public and elected officials
- understand the political, social and environmental landscape in her
city. Since a well-designed map is one that communicates its data as
effortlessly as possible while giving maximum visual satisfaction, her
extra work toward map design is important.

But what if Sally wasn't as committed to public service as she is?
Would there still be some kind of incentive? Try this scenario. A
citizen walks in to request a map of the zoning on her property and
Sally has no pre-contemplated design template to use. Sally wastes time
by creating something from scratch every time this type of request is
made. In this case the upfront time cost is very much worth it in order
to minimize time spent and mistakes made in the future.

Amanda H.S. Taub, GIS analyst for the Douglas County Transportation
& Land Services, offers these thoughts. "Local government workers
should spend the time making bunches of templates that can be used at
fixed scales. This should even be done for the maps that are given out
at the front counter for general inquiries about roads, properties,
zoning, etc. Spend the time developing the look of the jurisdictions
maps. The time spent doing this early will save so much time later when
in a hurry."

Solo Consulting
Dan is a consultant working as a solo GIS practitioner. As a GIS
entrepreneur, Dan knows that everything he produces must be of the
highest possible quality and close to the leading edge of the industry.
His map designs, even if cartography is not the main focus of his
business, must be up to par with the best in the business. He simply
cannot send a paying client a mediocre design. Sure, if he's shooting a
quick jpeg to a client to explain a certain situation with the data
he's manipulating he might take a quick screen shot, but for anything
that is going to include an audience of multiple people and which is
considered a work deliverable, time and effort must be put forth.

He may even deliver a map of some data he's putting together as an
extra courtesy to his clients, though it hasn't been specifically
requested. Dan sees an immediate connection between making his customer
happy and gaining future work for his business. Making his customers
happy through custom map designs that are well thought out, perhaps
even worthy of the customers' framing and hanging, will keep them
coming back for more.

Web Development
Sue is a Web developer. Her stance on cartography is that even a small
investment in map design know-how is going to put her above the rest of
her field. She is making a Web map for policy makers, who are
non-traditional Web map users. She has to make it simple and inviting.
If she can accomplish this in an aesthetically appealing way she can be
the reason that better decisions are being made by the policy makers,
who now have access to, and can view, spatial data without leaving
their desks.

Because Web development in the GIS arena has focused so extensively on
tools and procedures, the design aspect of the field is inordinately
behind. It makes good sense for a Web developer to learn some design
skills because, as the originator of a Web map, she is in the best
position to design it well from the start. Even if she concentrates on
learning only usability, color compatibility and element placement, she
will go a long way toward enhancing the user experience. The value is
realized in increased traffic to the site, increased interest in the
data being mapped and better decisions being made. Two great starting
places for this learning are:

Consulting Firm
Dave is a GIS analyst in a large consulting firm. His firm has plenty
of designers with whom he can work when he puts out a map. What's in it
for him, then, to learn about design? In Dave's case, an investment in
design skills learning can make it easier for his bosses to put him on
billable projects. We're talking job flexibility. When projects are
low, Dave can be used as a designer or a GIS analyst in order to keep
his job.

He is also eminently more marketable when he is searching for a new
job, as would be any GISer with multiple skills. When he goes to a job
interview he can take samples of his analytical work - displayed as
engaging and beautiful maps, of course - that are his own work. Now he
is showing off two skills: cartography and analysis. He surely can't
take in a map that the designers at his firm made, as that isn't his
own work.

In Conclusion
As Christopher Walter, Geospatial Division director at the Cascade Land
Conservancy, put it, "An ugly or poorly executed map will more than
likely discourage the audience from investing the effort to find the
message, while a map that is attractive, interesting or otherwise
compelling (not to mention culturally appropriate) can be expected to
reach a greater proportion of the intended audience." No matter whom
you work for or where you work, the creative and design skills that you
acquire through dedicated learning serve to justify an investment in
GIS as a whole. After all, it is through the map product that most
people, including your bosses and clients and the tax-paying public -
the people who paid for the GIS in the first place - will interact